Living

It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this. Well, at least I think it has been. I can’t really remember. I know it happens. It comes and goes. Everything feels like...

If you are like me, you’re feeling a need to connect these days. I’m working from home, self-isolating as much as I can. I’m lucky to be home with my...

I think I'm failing retirement. I blame President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn set the bar too high with all of their work for Habitat for Humanity. You...

The experience of a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Initially, my oncologist recommended a “watch and wait” approach as this was the standard of care for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Unfortunately, my...

One of my favorite quotes is “life happens to us when we’re busy making plans” by Allen Saunders. Life has a way of surprising you, as things don’t always turn out the...

It’s important to reduce stress in our lives. We don’t have the health, the strength, or the time for a stressful life. But how do we get there? Here are...

After I had a cesarean section, I thought that in childbirth class they could have spent more time discussing the procedure. I remember it as an afterthought. “Oh, this might...

I am ready. I grab my bag, stuffed full of books, warm socks, lip balm, nausea pops, good luck charms, and a blanket as I sit in the passenger seat...

In my family, three people have gotten cancer. First, it was my mother. For her, it started with cervical cancer which was cured. Then a few years later she developed...

We are motivated to find meaning in our lives. This is especially true in the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis. I can remember struggling with the uncertainty of the future...

I have a confession to make: I’m a big nerd. Specifically, I’m a big cancer nerd. I could go by other names. Cancer geek. Maybe cancer anorak. Some say those...

I recently read a post by one of our members. It seems her family, and in particular, her parents implied that it is somehow her fault she has cancer. The...

As I think back upon all the things people have said to me since my diagnosis, ‘Stay positive!’ is one of the most common. It is often said with the...

There was good news and bad news when they went from using one arm to two in the procedure called ECP, or extracorporeal photopheresis for graft-versus-host disease of the skin...

Saturday, April 24. 1993, Catoosa, Oklahoma, was hit by a deadly tornado. Catoosa is my second hometown. I started teaching for Catoosa Public Schools in 1978 right out of college...

Depending on a patient’s symptoms or abnormal lab values, the physician may consider a biopsy in order to examine the cells and make a definite determination of the diagnosis. Frequently...

Treatment for multiple myeloma has come a very long way! It was a little over ten years that this rare condition was considered incurable... but is it? I along with...

I first met Pamela, age 64, when we worked together starting about 30 years ago. Long after we had both moved on to other jobs, and in her case, another...

Living with a chronic health condition can take a toll on your mental health. Life often seems full of the things you cannot do anymore, the ways the disease compromises...

When I tell people that I had four stem cell transplants, I have to start with the basics if they don’t know about blood cancer. I explain what a stem...